To be able to use a product or service, a user needs an interface with which they can interact with the product or service. Everything has a front and a back end, the user always sees what they are meant to and don’t necessarily need to see what happens behind the scenes. We would be discussing User Interface and User Experience design in this article, understand what it’s all about and take a look at who are the people that design UI and UX.
What is UI/UX Design
You may have heard the terms UI and UX quite often, they may seem similar as they are almost always used together, but they are very different. Good products need good design to be able to give the user maximum utility. The users must also have great experiences while they browse/use a website or application.
UI design:
UI or User Interface Design is the graphical interface of an application or website that the user sees or interacts with. Everything from fonts to the colors, animations, and photos falls under UI design. The main job of UI design is to deal with the aesthetics of the website or application, it determines how it will look and feel.
UI is affected a lot by trends, every few months there is a new trend that affects the whole UI industry. The interface design to a great extent influences the usability of a product, if a design is simple and intuitive, it would be easy for the user to browse/navigate. UIs must also be unique and special, something that will stay in the users’ minds for a long time. It must stimulate the feelings of the users.
UX design:
Whereas UI deals with the look and feel i.e. visuals of a product, UX, or User Experience focuses on the functionality of that design or it focuses on how the interface works. Whether it is easy for the users to accomplish a certain task or if there are several obstacles in between.
Users will rate your product in their heads based on their experience with it, if the experience is smooth, they will come back but if it’s full of hiccups, they may not.
User experience is basically how a user interacts with a product, the user experience is deeply connected with the user interface design, things such as the placement of a button and the layout of a menu. The UX designers give inputs to UI designers who then make changes accordingly.
Why UI/UX design is important for a startup
User interface and User Experience are an integral part of developing a product, it is vital in determining how successful your product or service will be. A single UX or UI decision can make or lose millions of dollars for an organization.
The design team must ensure that the users’ experience is flawless from start till end, they should not feel exhausted while using your website or application, instead, they must be motivated to buy a product or use your service. We have listed down some factors that will be affected by the UX/UI of your website or application.
User interface and User Experience are an integral part of developing a product, it is vital in determining how successful your product or service will be. A single UX or UI decision can make or lose millions of dollars for an organization.
The design team must ensure that the users’ experience is flawless from start till end, they should not feel exhausted while using your website or application, instead, they must be motivated to buy a product or use your service. We have listed down some factors that will be affected by the UX/UI of your website or application.
Who is a UI/UX designer
The goal of the UX/UI Designer is to create interfaces that meet the needs of users while also providing them with an intuitive and distinct experience. In a nutshell, a UX/UI Designer assists customers in understanding computer products such as applications, websites, and software programs.
A UX/UI Designer, in particular, collaborates with business strategy. This is because computer items serve as the principal point of contact between the company and its customers. In reality, products have come to symbolize a company’s ability to innovate.
A UX/UI Designer keeps a close eye on things and conducts several audience surveys to learn about people’s personalities, backgrounds, challenges, and motivations when it comes to user experience.
Design plays a major role in determining whether a product would be successful or not, it can act as a differentiator for an organization. The design should feel upmarket and must be updated and follow the trends. Anyone can be a UX/UI designer if they have even the slightest of design knowledge and it can be learned online, a lot of designers are self-taught.
A lot of professional designers changed careers and they did not have any formal training as such. Although the job can get technical and designers do carry out research and carry out surveys to understand what the users need/want.
The job requires creative thinking and one must also be good in arts to some extent if they want to be a UI designer because User interface usually deals with graphic designing whereas UX designing doesn’t require the knowledge of arts as such.
UI/UX designer job descriptions
Some things are expected out of every job, similarly, UX and UI designers are expected to do some things that we’ll discuss in detail. The job descriptions that we have highlighted are the ones that are demanded in the industry nowadays. Coming on to the main topic of the article, we will be learning about the job requirements, responsibilities, and skills that are required to be a UI and UX designer.
Responsibilities
UI designers are responsible mainly for the design aspects or the visual aspects whereas the UX designers are responsible for figuring out the functioning of the visual elements in a manner that the user gets a seamless experience.
Requirements
Just like every job, there are some requirements that a person must meet to
Skills
There are several skills that you may require to be a good UX designer, some of them are related to design while others completely different.
Coding
Although coding is not the main job of UX designers, they must be familiar with front-end programming languages such as HTML, Javascript, CSS, and bootstrap so that they can be efficient at what they do. They must be able to understand how their work integrates with the back end.
Graphic Design Skills
More than 60% of UX jobs require the person to possess Graphic design skills since most User experience designers are also user interface designers, most job requirements mandate the person to have UI design skills by default.
Wireframing and Prototyping
Obviously, UX Designers must be well-versed in how people browse and engage with information flows. To apply this knowledge to product design, they must also be skilled wireframers and prototypers, capable of using the industry’s most frequently used tools, such as Sketch and InVision, to bring their ideas to life.
A prototype is not a pre-production version of the finished product. It’s a communication tool-the primary communication tool used to express components of the final design’s user-facing elements to Graphic Designers and UI Designers working under the UX Designer, as well as Developers and other team members working alongside them.
Responsive Web Development
Screen sizes vary a lot and people use numerous devices in tandem, the webpages need to function efficiently on all kinds of devices whether it is a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop. Hence UX and UI designers must be familiar with responsive web development.
Management of a project
It’s critical to understand how to take a project or design from conception to completion. Although you are not primarily responsible for the product’s development as a UX Designer, your ability to manage, organize, and keep on track and under budget will result in a more effective product development process for everyone.
Soft skills
The designers must also possess soft skills such as clear communication and good interpersonal skills that will help the designers understand the clients and collaborate efficiently with other teams such as UI designers.
These are some of the soft skills that UX and UI designers must possess to be able to perform their job in the best way possible.
Conclusion
UI/UX is still considered a gimmick and companies don’t understand that the user’s experience is integral to the success of a product. The startups that don’t understand the importance of having a good user interface with a good user experience are on the path to failure because they won’t meet the clients’ needs and wants. The startups must be able to understand their client’s psyche and design their interfaces keeping that in mind. This will help them be ahead of the curve and the competitors. It is one of the most important aspects in success of your business. If you have any queries while designing the UX/UI for your product/service, please feel free to write to us via the feedback form. Our experts will be more than happy to help.
Originally published at https://os-system.com on March 24, 2022.
